Dungeons and Drama
by Karashi
Summary: The paladin Courtney, the sorcerer Gwen, and the cleric Bridgette are sent on a mission to find out what happened to Princess Lindsay. Is this simply a case of miscommunication and forgetfulness, or is there something more sinister afoot?
1. The Adventure Begins

**Disclaimers:** I do not own the Total Drama franchise nor any of its characters. I do not own Dungeons and Dragons and it's under an Open Gaming License but even without that, I'm not making any profit from its concepts and characters. This is all done for fun and enjoyment.

**A/N:** This fic heavily _borrows_ from Dungeons and Dragons and the concepts and skills D&D establishes but I will be putting my own spin to them. This is my first fic for the Total Drama franchise so I welcome comments and suggestions. And just to be clear: I am a Duncney shipper who isn't adverse to pairing Courtney with other characters (someday, I _will _write that JustinxCourtney fic). What that means for the fic will hopefully be self-evident.**  
**

* * *

**Part One: The Fall**

**Chapter One: The Adventure Begins**

The throne room was filled with an unfamiliar sense of tension that day. The normally jovial King of Goephr was beside himself with worry, adding a few more strands of white hair to his strawberry blond head. He had not heard word from his dear daughter, the Princess Lindsay, and it has been over two months since she left for the Kingdom of Basse.

"She should have reached her destination by now!" the king bemoaned to his most trusted advisor, wringing his hands in consternation as he paced in a well-worn circle. "Something must have happened to her! She could have been taken! Noah! You told me our neighboring kingdoms recently suffered from a rash of fiendish rituals!" The King sank to this throne, burying his face in his ring-adorned hands, continuing to moan, "Isn't it possible that my poor, sweet Lindsay was chosen as a sacrifice for who knows _what_ twisted and evil plan?"

The advisor refrained from rolling his eyes at his liege's behavior, an act that's almost become second nature to him. Because like the missing princess the King was prone to bouts of overreaction. Instead, Noah tried to calm his liege down. "Your Highness, there was just the _one_ unexplained ritual three kingdoms away. Which was probably just some children's prank," Noah muttered beneath his breath while brushing stray strands of his brown hair out of his eyes.

"And if she has been abducted, we should have received a ransom notice by now. A princess is a _very _valuable bargaining chip after all. It's highly likely that Princess Lindsay decided to take the scenic route at the last minute. I'm sure we'll hear word soon enough from-"

"NO!" the King bellowed, slamming a meaty fist on the throne's armrest and causing Noah to visibly flinch. "We've waited long enough! We _must_ send a search party to find her!"

"Are you absolutely certain your Highness?" Noah asked, barely managing to keep his usual annoyed drawl in check. The furious shade of scarlet spreading across the King's face made it clear to Noah that his liege's mind was made up on the matter. The long-suffering advisor held back a resigned sigh as he bowed, knowing there was nothing else he could do except acquiesce to his ruler's will. "As you wish, your Highness."

"Send word for the Captain and his best men to search at once! Send envoys announcing that my daughter is missing!"

Noah remained where he stood, his face grim with disapproval for the briefest of moments before he schooled his features into a neutral mask. "Your Highness, as your advisor, I must _advise_ you that this is the sort of situation where we must practice a sense of subtlety."

"What does tea have anything to do with my missing daughter?"

Noah's eye twitched ever so slightly, "Not tea, your Highness, _subtle_-ty. As in, we have to be careful that the other kingdoms aren't made aware." The blank look on his liege's face forced him to continue, "That our alliance with the Kingdom of Basse, along with Princess Lindsay's life, is possibly at risk?"

The King's brows simply furrowed in deepening confusion at Noah's words.

The advisor pressed his hand to his face and pulled down. Slowly. "Sending out the Captain of the Royal Guards as well as envoys would be basically announcing to everyone interested in overthrowing you that you're vulnerable."

Noah gave the King some time to digest his words. It was several moments later before the King paled in understanding and demanded, "Then what do you suggest?"

"We carry on like everything is normal while we send a smaller group to go search for Princess Lindsay and her entourage." Had Noah been explaining his plan to anyone else, and not the King, he would have finished with a resounding _Duh_.

The King leaned back on his throne as he mulled his decision over. Seconds passed before he asked, "Do you have a group in mind?"

Noah gave his liege an assuring smile, "Of course, your Highness. I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't."

* * *

That same morning, three women were summoned to a private audience with the King. The first to arrive, a full hour before the appointed time, was a paladin. A servant greeted her before escorting her to an antechamber to wait. She bowed in thanks at the retreating servant, brushing the bob of brown hair back into place as she righted herself. Rather than sitting down on any of the numerous plush seats, she remained on her feet, posture ramrod straight. Her dark eyes were closed in meditation as she waited for the appointed time.

Not half an hour later, the door opened but the paladin's eyes remained closed. The only change to her serene expression was the quirk of a smile on her lips. "Bridgette," the paladin greeted cordially, peering through her lashes at the blonde cleric.

"Courtney," the woman that entered returned cheerfully before throwing her arms around the heavily armored paladin. When gauntleted arms finished returning the embrace, Bridgette beamed, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you about to have a private audience with the King."

"Well, I _am_ a Captain in Training," Courtney stated in complete confidence. A beat. Then both women began to laugh. "It's great to see you again, Bridgette," the paladin grinned with a flash of white teeth.

"Likewise," the blonde nodded as she settled down on a cushioned couch, placing her mace and large shield by her feet. As they began to catch up, the sound of approaching footsteps gave both women pause, alerting them that a third person would be entering. When the door opened, Bridgette brightened at the rustle of robes.

"Gwen?" Courtney sounded concerned at the sight of the pale woman. "What happened to your hair?"

"Let me guess: A spell went wrong?" Bridgette queried, pursing lips as she tapped a finger against her cheek.

"More like the price I had to pay," the sorcerer huffed, running her pale fingers through her green-streaked dark hair.

With a quirked brow, Courtney asked, "You never tried to change it back?"

"To be honest, I kind of like it this way," Gwen shrugged, taking a seat beside Bridgette.

The cleric stretched out as she reclined into the plush upholstery, idly remarking, "It does suit you, but only you could pull that look off."

"I can give you two matching streaks for your hair," the pale woman offered, green eyes glinting in mischief.

Courtney looked aghast, "I'm perfectly fine with the way my hair looks, thank you very much."

"Somehow, I knew you'd say that," Gwen snickered before turning serious. "I'm guessing Noah came to see you two this morning too, huh?"

"Yes. Do either of you have any idea why we're here, though? He wouldn't say when he told me the King wanted to see me," the blonde cleric chewed her lower lip in slight concern.

"This is _Noah_ we're talking about," Courtney frowned, brows furrowing pensively, "He's not exactly the hands-on type. If he came to us personally, we can be sure secrecy is of the utmost importance."

"Am I really that obvious, Courtney?" Noah drawled as he entered the antechamber.

"It's more like drawing from experience," the paladin clarified as she crossed her arms, dark eyes narrowing suspiciously at the advisor. "Are we even going to _meet_ the King?"

Noah nodded, looking mildly affronted, "I'd never make such claims without being able to back it up. But I _do_ need to brief you three before your audience. As everyone knows, Princess Lindsay is enroute to Basse to meet her betrothed, Prince Tyler."

"Whether or not they're compatible never seems to come up," Gwen muttered as she rolled her eyes. The sorcerer never regarded arranged marriages, especially political ones, with favor.

"Be as it may," the advisor cleared his throat, wisely avoiding the topic altogether, "Everyone in the kingdom, not to mention our _neighbors,_ still _thinks_ the Princess is enroute to Basse." He left it at that, pulling his arms behind him while staring at the three women expectantly.

Realization dawned on Courtney first and the paladin's eyes widened, "The Princess hasn't arrived but she hasn't been kidnapped, has she?"

Bridgette tilted her head, "And you came to this conclusion how?"

"If she has been kidnapped, Sir Josh of the Royal Guards would have ridden out to rescue her," Gwen supplied.

"While drumming up all the pomp and fanfare this kingdom can muster," Noah grumbled, rubbing his temples and shaking his head. "Not exactly the picture of discretion."

"And you expect the three of us will be able to do the job?" Courtney grinned, barely able to contain her excitement at the opportunity to prove her worth.

"Quietly," the advisor warned as he adjusted the hem of his silken sleeves. "You don't even need to bring the Princess back here. Just return with something to assure the King that his precious Lindsay's safe and not a sacrificial bride to some netherworld being. I don't have to tell you how this could make or break your futures in the kingdom."

While Courtney wasn't about to question Noah's decision, she couldn't help but side-eye him. "How does this benefit _you_?"

Noah's gaze darted to Gwen, "You know me, I pay my debts," then to Bridgette, "And I have a back-up plan," and finally to Courtney, "And I always like to have an ace up my sleeve."

The three women exchanged knowing looks, satisfied with his answer.

"Going on an adventure with just the three of us? It's going to be like old times, huh?" Bridgette grinned, happily nudging Gwen with her elbow.

The sorcerer tried to look unconcerned, as if this quest didn't matter but the corner of her painted lips curled up. Scratching the back of her nape, she shrugged, "It's not like I'm making any headway in deciphering that old spell. I guess a change in my routine couldn't hurt."

"Good, now that that's settled, I'll send you three to meet the King. He'll tell you everything I just said but with an excessive amount detail and go off on unrelated tangents more times than necessary. By the time he's finished, I'll have sent a messenger to each of your guild master how the King sent you on a wild goose chase."

"Seriously?" Bridgette blinked in disbelief.

"Last month the King _did_ send Sir Josh and his men on a wild rabbit chase," Courtney sighed, "His Majesty hasn't been the same since the Queen died. If it weren't for Noah and the other advisors, this land would have fallen to complete chaos."

"Nothing wrong with a little chaos now and again," the sorcerer declared cheekily as she drew a long, oak staff out of her sleeves. Gingerly, she rapped the butt of the wooden rod against the carpeted floor, the strike sparking a green flash that set the carpeted alight. It took a mere snap of her fingers to extinguish the flames. "Keeps things interesting."

"I'd rather have things boring but stable," the paladin sniffed, her heavy armor barely making a sound as she marched towards a table where a claymore sword most men needed two arms to lift rested. With one hand, she sheathed the blade in the scabbard strapped to her hip while the other retrieved her helmet to cradle it against her side.

"But whatever happens, we know how to deal," the cleric beamed and swiftly jumped to her feet, the movement sent her mace and shield spinning into the air. But while both her arms were outstretched in anticipation, she only managed to catch the blunt weapon. It was the advisor standing beside her that caught the shield. With his head.

"Oh, sorry about that Noah," Bridgette winced, kneeling down to free the pinned advisor as well as to heal the beginnings of a concussion.

"Don't make me regret this, you three. My neck is on the line just as much as yours," Noah glared in spite of the soothing sensation of the cleric's magic.

"Stop worrying, Noah, what's the worse that could happen?" Gwen smirked.

An unnatural chill fell upon the four and departed so quickly it was almost as if they imagined it. While Noah easily shrugged it off, the three magically attuned women remained on edge.

* * *

Elsewhere...

"Really? Out of all the things you could possibly dream up in that sad, twisted little head of yours, you pick _that_?"

"Either that or you endow the Princess Lindsay with wisdom beyond her years."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Chaos is one thing, complete and utter annihilation of all the nine realms is another."

"So what you're saying is you _can't_?"

"Did I say that? No. No, I _didn't_! I just meant you could have maybe picked something that would pose more of a challenge."

"Bring it, we'll see how far you go without _my_ help and expertise!"

"Oh I've brought it! Then we'll see who has the last laugh!"


	2. Makes Me Wonder

**A/N:** To the few people who read/followed/favorited this fic, thank you. I don't really have much else to say other than comments and criticisms are welcomed, and to please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.

* * *

**Chapter Two: Makes Me Wonder**

After their private audience with the King, the paladin, the cleric, and the sorcerer rode out of town. Or they would have rode out of town had Noah granted them the privilege of horses.

"We could investigate locations faster if we had mounts," Gwen insisted.

"Yes, but how often do we see ordinary travelers leaving the kingdom on horse back?" Noah drawled, "And besides, none of you are exactly ranked to travel on one in your respective guilds are you?"

"I actually am," Courtney corrected, the look on her face suggesting she was more than willing to narrate the exact moment she was granted said rank.

However, it appeared that Noah already had an answer for her: "Yes, but you're not about to let your two traveling companions walk while you rode, are you? I mean, what sort of paladin would that make you?"

Dark eyes narrowed at the advisor before Courtney begrudgingly donned her helm. But not without a last indignant remark of, "Ladies, let it be known that when I end up pushing you both to your limits during our journey, you know where fit to lay blame."

The advisor only gave the three women a beatific smile that convinced no one of his ignorance on Courtney's attitude when it came to meeting her goals. "I'd start walking if I were you three. It's a half-day's journey to the nearest town on horseback. But it shouldn't be more than a day on foot with Courtney's encouragement." He ignored the daggers glared his way from the cleric and sorceress as he waved at the exiting adventurers.

"He does this on purpose," Gwen grumbled, trudging past the castle's guards without giving them a second glance.

"Undoubtedly," Bridgette agreed then glanced hesitantly to the paladin, cringing as she asked, "Are you seriously going to push us to exhaustion, Courtney?"

"Yes," the tanned woman answered without batting an eye, not that it was obvious with her helmet on. "Discretion and speed are key elements with this type of investigation. The sooner we duplicate the trail Princess Lindsay's entourage took, the faster we discover where she could have possibly gone astray."

"You do know that it's two against one, don't you?" the sorcerer reminded, gesturing to herself then to the blonde cleric. "I mean, not that it will ever come to us having to forcibly tie you down so we can get a moment's rest or anything…"

"Hey, didn't we already _do_ something like that? And we managed to actually succeed? When was it...?" the cleric followed suit, tapping her chin in thought.

Through grit teeth, Courtney countered, "I was still a squire back then. Now that I'm a full-fledged paladin, you two have no _hope_ of subduing me!" Her two friends simply laughed at her, making the paladin bark out the command for the two women to: "Move it!"

"You should considering changing your claymore for a whip," Gwen teased, though she did pick up her pace to jog alongside Bridgette who was pantomiming cracking the aforementioned weapon.

"I swear, if either of you lag behind I am _leaving_ you both in the dust!" Courtney threatened from the front. As gruff and serious as her tone was, the three knew the brunette would never do such a thing to _them_. Partly because of the stringent moral code all Holy Knights followed and partly because they knew firsthand what it was like to have Courtney on their side. If they had been anyone else, however, Courtney would have no trouble proving she rarely made idle threats.

Several hours' worth of uneventful walking later (with a brief break to have lunch), the trio reached the entrance to the forest surrounding the Geophr Kingdom. It was then that Gwen declared she needed a rest.

"I know you both undergo a lot of physically strenuous tasks during your training, but we sorcerers prefer the mental sort of exercises," she panted, leaning against one of the many trees. Through the fabric of her robes, Bridgette and Courtney could see the green-haired woman's trembling knees were ready to buckle at a moment's notice.

"I suppose one of us could try to remove your fatigue..." Courtney trailed off as she mulled over her options.

"Don't you think we've covered enough ground to warrant a rest?" Bridgette frowned sternly. "I mean, we're already at the forest and it's not really a place I enjoy going in when a group is at full strength."

"Let alone with one of its members is about to collapse from exhaustion!" Gwen added thickly. And to prove her point, the sorcerer promptly slid down the tree's trunk, the thick fabric of her robes sparing her the annoyance of splinters.

"Alright, alright! We'll take a brief rest and then we'll continue until it gets dark. Here, lean on me," Courtney sighed, offering an arm to the seated sorcerer. The paladin lifted the sorcerer to her feet with ease and Gwen just as easily slung her arm around Courtney's shoulder. The pair headed towards the camp Bridgette was already setting up.

"I should scout the surrounding forest area while you two rest. Just to make sure there are no bandits or wild animals lurking about," Courtney murmured as Gwen settled beside Bridgette.

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard on the first day," Bridgette chided, setting down her shield and mace, absently making sure both they within reach. When she noticed the paladin hadn't followed suit, she pointed at the spot in front of her, silently ordering what Courtney's next action _should_ be.

"We have the entire trip from Goephr to Basse for you to do that," Gwen reminded before lying down and breathing a relieved sigh. Given the sorcerer's pale skin, it was safe to say she wasn't particularly fond of the outdoors. But after that grueling trek, anything level that kept her from standing on her feet was more than welcome.

Courtney crossed her arms stubbornly, lips pressed into a thin line, brows furrowed. However, the pointed stare from Bridgette soon had her joining both women on the ground.

* * *

"Still haven't learned to relax, have you?" the blonde teased as Courtney fidgeted with her sword and helmet.

"What!?" Courtney demanded indignantly, the expression on her face indicating she was about to stand back up had Bridgette not anchored herself to the paladin's arm. The brunette attempted to shake her friend off but the cleric countered by batting her doe-eyes and pulling her lips into a pleading pout. Had Bridgette been anyone else, Courtney wouldn't have fallen for it. With a resigned sigh, Courtney sat back down and removed her helmet.

Satisfied, the blonde was more than happy to let go of Courtney's arm and ignored the tanned woman's grumbling of, "I do _so_ know how to relax! I just dislike being idle, that's all."

"Then meditate or recite prayers or _whatever_ it is you holy knights do when you're not out smiting evil," Gwen suggested, waving an arm dismissively.

"Hey yeah! We can both meditate, Court, that should clear your mind some," the cleric eagerly declared. So eager, in fact, that Bridgette proceeded to adjusted her spot and rearrange the placement of her mace and shield (one on either side to be exact) without waiting for Courtney's response. The blonde tucked her feet under her, laid her hands on her lap, closed her eyes, and was soon on the path to finding her center.

As serene as Bridgette looked, Courtney couldn't bring herself to join the cleric. The paladin just couldn't shake off this ominous feeling of dread that hummed in the back of her mind. Her gaze kept wandering to their surroundings, searching the forest for any signs that would explain her unease. Every little noise, ever faint rustle of foliage had her reaching for her sword, dark eyes alert for any signs of danger, muscles coiled and ready to strike or parry at a moment's notice.

Judging by the downward curve of Gwen's mouth, the sorcerer was equally on edge. While the paladin drew her unease from her surroundings, Gwen's stemmed from the energies of the elements. She initially thought fatigue caused the sense of anxiety niggling at the back of her consciousness. But even now, stretched out on her back, allowing her body to recover from the morning's travel, she was wholly aware that fatigue had nothing to do with the foreboding sensation.

Eventually, Courtney's anxiety got on Gwen's nerves and the sorcerer sat up, balling her hands into fists out of frustration. "Court, you're my friend and I know you've got stamina by the buckets. But could you at least chill long enough to let _me_ rest in pe-"

"HELP! HELP! SOMEBODY!"

The sudden yell snapped Bridgette from her meditation and had all three women scrambling to their feet. With her claymore drawn and her helmet secured on her head, Courtney charged into the underbrush feeling completely vindicated.

"I knew it! I _knew_ it! Mildred be praised, I was right!" The paladin's cheers were short lived upon immediately realizing this was _not_ the appropriate moment to celebrate. She wove through the trees with surprising speed given the amount of armor she wore, but Gwen and Bridgette were quick to catch up.

"I sense six evil presences up ahead," Bridgette reported, "Nothing too menacing but we sh-eep!" she yelped in surprise followed by a dull thud.

"Bridgette?" the two gasped in concern, glancing over their shoulders to see what happened.

When the cleric discovered her foot caught on an exposed root and caused her to trip, she waved her mace at the two to go on ahead. "I'll catch up!"

With a nod, both Gwen and Courtney continued heading towards the cries for help. As they drew closer, they could hear the ringing of metal striking bone and the incoherent moans of the undead. Soon enough, they spied a group of reanimated corpses converging on a lone bard. He was swinging a short sword at them while protectively cradling a mandolin to his green-clad chest. Though he was successful in cutting the creatures, the amount of blood pouring out of his wounds made it obvious he won't last for much longer.

"Damn it, why won't you guys just _die_ already!?" he growled in frustration, too preoccupied to even brush aside his sweat-matted raven hair.

"They're _already_ dead, that's why!" Gwen yelled, stopping a few feet from the cluster of corpses, one end of her oaken staff aglow.

"And if you don't want to end up like them, I strongly suggest you get down!" Courtney commanded, continuing her headlong rush. Beneath her breath, she began to chant a prayer and her claymore began to shimmer, the light intensifying to blinding the closer she got to the undead.

The dark-haired bard did as the paladin ordered; or rather he tried to. A rotting arm managed one final swipe at him, razor-sharp nails raking a deep gash across his chest, and sending him sprawling to the ground. The instant the green-clad man hit the dirt Courtney swung her large sword at the gathered undead. The holy knight's blade cleaved through half of the corpses, rending muscle, flesh, and bone.

From the corner of her eye, Courtney spied movement and a flash of blue. She took the sharp crackling in the air as her cue to put distance between herself and the remaining creatures.

"Gwen! I got him!" Bridgette informed, having successfully dragged the unconscious bard out of harm's way.

At the cleric's words, a stream of green bolts shot out of the sorcerer's oaken staff, scorching the creatures until there was nothing more than ash and a lingering stench of decay. Bridgette wasted no time in checking the bard's injuries.

"How bad is he?" Gwen asked.

"Nothing broken, but you never know with the undead," was the healer's assessment.

The sorcerer tried not to shudder at the prospect. She was well aware that there were dangers involved during travel. But she never really thought said dangers would extend beyond getting lost or dealing with savage beasts and thieving bandits.

As she contemplated the situation, she watched the warm glow transfer from Bridgette's fingertips and onto the man. The healing light slowly spread throughout his body. Gwen chewed on her lower lip, wincing in sympathy when the man let out a sharp hiss through clenched, white teeth. With dark eyes, she continued to observe the wounds and gashes close to faint scars, releasing the breath she didn't realize she held until the pain eased from his features.

Gradually, he came to, opening his green eyes to the sight of two concerned faces. He groaned, "Am I dead?"

From behind Gwen, Courtney answered, "No, you're alive," and followed up with grim seriousness, "But I can't say for sure what would have happened if we came any later."

The man gulped, inspecting himself through his blood-soaked clothes as he sat up, "You three saved my life."

"Think nothing of it," the paladin dismissed with a smile, "As a CIT and a Holy Knight serving under the goddess Mildred, it's my sworn duty to-"

"What were you thinking facing six undead all by yourself?" Gwen cut in, wisely stopping Courtney from continuing her spiel, which both sorcerer and cleric had heard hundreds of times before.

The raven-haired bard rubbed his square jaw in thought, "When I was exploring the area it just started with the _one_ undead. And after I got rid of that, another one came at me and then another and another. I lost count at how many there really were and it stopped being about taking them down to simply getting away."

"And that's when we showed up," the blonde finished.

"Yes, again, thank you so much. I owe you three my life! I'm Trent, by the way," he introduced, flashing those pearly whites of his while offering his hand and fixing his green eyes at Gwen.

"Gwen," the sorcerer replied, accepting the proffered limb. She gestured to the cleric in blue, "This is Bridgette, and Miss Captain-in-Training over there is Courtney."

"A pleasure to meet you Trent," Courtney nodded with a tight smile, her tone suggesting all business. She sheathed her sword back and gave the two women a pointed look. "And now that we're sure you're alright, the three of us should really get going. We still have a lot of ground to cover and if we want to get out of this forest by nightfall, we _really _should start moving."

"Seriously?" Gwen demanded, rapping her staff angrily on the ground, "We just dealt with half a dozen undead and saved someone's life! You're actually rushing us?!"

"Exactly!" Courtney yelled back hotly. When she realized Trent was present to witness her temper she gave an unconvincing smile to the bard before forcibly dragging Bridgette and Gwen away. When they were out of earshot, she hissed, "Don't you think it's strange that the _undead_ was in our forest? Let alone Intern'ds!?"

Bridgette went slack-jawed in shock. "I-Intern'ds?! B-but, but how?"

"That's impossible! There haven't been any Intern Unions in our Kingdom, at least not for the past hundred years!" Gwen added uneasily.

"I know that!" the paladin snapped. "Which is why I believe it's in our best interest to reach the nearest village as soon as possible."

"I think finding out more about the Intern'd is a little more important than what Princess Lindsay's doing," the sorcerer frowned, folding her arms across her robed chest.

With a frustrated groan, Courtney nodded, "That is exactly what I said we'd do once we arrived at the village."

"Sure didn't sound like it," Gwen challenged with a huff.

"I get what Courtney's saying!" Bridgette declared with a clap of her hands, "Once we get asking about the Princess out of the way, we'll be free to find out what's up with the Intern'd in the area!"

"You should have just said that from the beginning," the sorcerer muttered as the trio began making their way back to the path.

"Excuse me, ladies?" Trent called out, jogging towards them, barely managing to catch himself from tripping on a jutting stone. The three paused, turning to face the bard, waiting for him to regain his footing and explain himself. Trent waved sheepishly, "Would I be correct in my guess that you three are heading for the quaint village just past these woods?"

"Considering Courtney pretty much spelled it out earlier, yes, you would be correct," Gwen smirked.

"Is there something you needed, Trent?" Courtney asked, shooting the pale woman a glare.

"Well, I just came from that village, would it be alright with you three if I traveled with you?"

The women exchanged silent glances but eventually, Gwen gave Trent a nod and gestured he walk with them. "Hopefully you'll be able to keep up," the sorcerer teased.

"I should be able to, your cleric patched me up real well."

"Thanks! I've had a lot of practice with my fellow clerics during training," Bridgette beamed.

"She causes most of the injuries she heals," Gwen whispered to Trent and was rewarded with a peal of loud, velvety laughter that may or may not have made her heart skip a beat. She returned her attention to the road, decidedly ignoring the faint heat blooming on her cheeks.

"So, Trent, why exactly are you in the forest?" Courtney asked casually, no hint of suspicion detectable in her voice.

"It's a rather short story, as far as a bard's standards go, but the village chief hired me to uh, investigate the strange incidents that have happening lately."

"Strange incidents?"

He nodded, "Yeah, there have been a number of attacks happening. While the chief has a lot of volunteers serving as guards, no one's willing to brave the forest."

"No one but you," Gwen pointed out.

"What can I say? I just can't help but want to help those in need."

"That's actually very noble of you, Trent," Courtney remarked, "Suicidal, but noble."

"Taking on the undead wasn't exactly what I'd planned, but your timely arrival? It felt like it came straight out of an epic!" Trent whistled. He paused, a distant look crossing his features before he grabbed his mandolin and began strumming. His fingers skillfully plucked at the instrument's strings, producing a melody that made the three women's pulse race in excitement.

As the music played on, the group's pace quickened, and neither Gwen, Bridgette, nor Courtney realized the change in their speed. And when Trent began to sing, his voice urged them forward and his rich tones sang their praises, invigorating them. By the time they emerged from the woods, none of them felt any hints of fatigue or exhaustion.

While it wasn't at all surprising to find the paladin barely out of breath, that Gwen wasn't panting or gasping after pushing herself so hard was a feat in and of itself.

"Maybe we should consider having a bard with us _all_ the time," Bridgette laughed giddily.

"Well, his song did drown out any of your complaining," Courtney chuckled, giving Gwen a friendly pat on her back and then giving one to the bard. "Now Trent, if you would be so kind as to introduce us to the village chief?"

"Sure, Courtney, if I remember right, his house is this way," he mused as he marched on ahead.

"You two should go find a place for us to stay," Courtney instructed before following after the dark-haired man. The cleric began to move on to search when she noticed Gwen wasn't moving.

"Come on, let's go," Bridgette tugged at her friend.

"Why does Courtney get to go speak with the village chief?" the pale woman muttered.

"Since when are you so interested in interacting with others?" the blonde quirked an interested brow. "You usually shut yourself up in your study, contemplating spells and old musty books."

"I-I'm not interested! I just. I mean _we're_ just as eloquent as she is. We both can totally handle talking to a mere village chief, that's all I'm saying!" Gwen huffed with a frown. With one last glance at the direction the paladin and the bard marched off to, she turned on her heels and stomped off towards the nearest building, "Forget it. Let's just find an inn."

The cleric tapped her cheek in thought for a few moments, "Right, if you say so."

* * *

"W-why, Trent my lad, you're back!" an old man greeted in surprise when the raven-haired bard strode through the elder's doors. "What did you find? Out there in the woods?"

"You might need to sit yourself down first," Courtney suggested, stepping past Trent as she removed her helmet.

"A paladin!?" the old man gasped, pulling his hat down to his heart, revealing a balding head, "W-what brings a Holy Knight to our humble village?"

"Wild goose chase," Courtney supplied casually.

"Ah, like Sir Josh's wild rabbit chase?" the chief chuckled in sympathy.

"Exactly," the tanned woman confirmed.

Trent stepped in, pulling out a chair for the old man, "Tomas, you might want to sit down for what we're about to tell you."

When the village chief did as the bard and paladin suggested, the two told Tomas of what had happened while Trent went scouting. Needless to say, Tomas was not happy. Not happy in the least. With his hat and a trembling hand, the village chief began to wipe his face. He looked up at Trent, "W-what can we do about these undead?"

"Are any of your men trained to deal with these vile abominations?" Courtney asked. And as she expected, Tomas shook his head. "In that case, it would be best if you left these creatures to my group to handle."

"What... what would your services cost?"

Courtney only gave a benign smile, "I'm a CIT and a Holy Knight. Lodgings and maybe some rations to help us in said goose chase would be more than enough."

"Oh of course! Of course! We can provide that!" Tomas happily agreed, "Thank you so much for bringing us help, Trent."

"Think nothing of it," he grinned.

"We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning. Although, Tomas, did anything unusual or special happen in the last two months?"

The village chief thought hard, "Well, Mrs. Simmons' sow had five piglets instead of their usual six. And one of those piglets got stolen a few days ago."

Courtney had to refrain herself from pressing a gauntleted hand to her face. Instead, she continued to smile sweetly, "Anything else?"

Tomas pondered for a bit longer then, it occurred to him, "Now that you mention it, the Princess Lindsay and her entourage paid the village a visit! I even gave her a guided tour of my home."

"Really?" Trent sounded curious, "Could we get the tour too?"

"If you'd like!" the village elder got to his feet in excitement.

"Maybe we can have it _after_ we deal with the undead?" the paladin interjected, "Did the Princess leave the village alright?"

"More than alright, she looked like she had the time of her life!" the chief proudly beamed, looking like he was about to go into every little detail of the Princess' visit. Then he abruptly sobered, fixing somber eyes at the paladin and bard. "Please, Courtney, Trent, please save this village."

"I-it could very well be an isolated incident," Trent's attempt at easing the old man's fears prompted Courtney to nod.

"Yes, there's every chance that the ones we dealt with are all there were. Your village is rather close to the capital and there are always sorcerers and wizards and clerics training there. It might have just been a case of a rogue spell or something."

Tomas looked comforted by this and ushered the bard and paladin out, saying they must have had a long and tiring day and promising, "I'll tell Charlie to give you and your group the best rooms in the Inn."

Once their arrangements had been sorted out, Courtney was ready to bid Trent goodnight and go their separate ways. However, she soon discovered that fate had other ideas.

"Listen, Courtney, I was thinking..."

The paladin frowned at Trent, already not liking where this was going. She was just about to cut him off with a curt goodnight when Gwen and Bridgette popped up from behind her.

"Courtney!" the cleric bobbed happily, "Gwen and I were just about to look for you." She paused then lightly nudged the pale woman beside her, "Hey there, Trent."

"Hi Bridgette, hi Gwen," the bard waved, "Great timing as always. Seeing as all three of you are here, I was thinking maybe I could join you tomorrow."

"Whatever prompted that?" Courtney asked flatly.

"I don't know. I could probably prattle on about needing a muse and inspiration, or how I want to somehow repay you for saving my life earlier, but I really want to see this through." He let out a heavy sigh, "And I promised Tomas I'd do whatever I can to help. Letting you three do all the work just doesn't feel right."

"Are you sure you're up for it? I mean, who _knows_ how many of those Intern'd are still out there," Courtney warned.

"I think having Trent along is a great idea," Gwen quickly piped up, "There's safety in numbers and you have to admit, that song of his really helped us push along."

"Besides, you never know when an extra sword will come in handy since we only have yours," the blonde added in jest.

"Fine, fine, I know when I'm outvoted," the paladin groaned in defeat, "A good CIT should know how to delegate, I suppose. But we're leaving at the crack of dawn and if you aren't ready by the time we are, you'll have to catch up to us." With that, the tanned brunette marched to her room.

Trent leaned towards Gwen, whispering, "She's not really going to leave me behind, is she?"

"You'd better believe she will," the sorcerer answered wryly.

"Harsh, why do you two work with her, then?"

"It takes a while for Courtney to warm up to new people," Bridgette defended, gently patting Trent on the back and giving Gwen a disapproving look, "But when she does, she will fight a dire wolf with her bare hands to protect you."

The mild chiding from the usually laid-back cleric had the sorcerer uncomfortably rubbing the back of her neck, murmuring "Or a dire bear."

"I guess that means I should get some sleep. Gotta be up at the crack of dawn and all," Trent awkwardly excused himself to head to his own room. "See you all in the morning."

"Good night Trent," Gwen bade before she and Bridgette went to their respective quarters. At the threshold, the pale woman glanced over her shoulder, "Good night Bridge and thanks for reminding me about... y'know."

Bridgette simply smiled, leaning against her the doorframe, "Courtney and I have been friends longer than the two of you so I can read her better. You know how strict a paladin's moral code is and how they always feel responsible for everyone in the group. Trent didn't look all that battle-savvy so she just doesn't want to have one more person to worry about."

"Does Courtney think we're useless, then?!" Gwen scowled.

"_Courtney_ thinks you're wasting time talking about her behind her back instead of getting some rest!" the paladin's voice growled from inside her quarters. Deliberately heavy footsteps were heard before she opened the door, "But to answer your question, Gwen, no Courtney doesn't think you and Bridgette are useless. If she did, she would never have agreed to go on this mission with you not even at Noah's request. Not even at the _King's_ request."

A beat.

"Now both of you _go to sleep_. You complained all day about me not letting you rest and when I actually _do_ tell you it's time to rest, you stay up talking palaver instead!" She muttered something beneath her breath that sounded very much like: "All sorts of messed up priorities, what did I get myself into," all the while shaking her head as she slammed the door shut.

Gwen and Bridgette wordlessly stared at each other before bursting into sheepish giggles. Finally, they greeted each other a goodnight and together wished Courtney pleasant dreams and promised to see her in the morning.


	3. Into The Woods

**A/N: **A big thanks to _personyoudontknow _for being the first person to leave a review XD Much obliged! Also: Action scenes are _hard_ as all get-out to write x.x hopefully what I wrote can be understood (though I wouldn't blame anyone if they got confused). As always, I welcome comments and criticisms. Let me know if you have questions or suggestions because feedback helps motivate me to finish the next chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Into The Woods**

The sun slowly began to peek over the horizon, faint rays stretching out to bathe the expanse of land that was the Kingdom of Goephr in a radiant, golden glow. The farmers greeted the morning with a brief smile, well most of them at least. There was the handful of sour-faced people who would have wished for a few more minutes (or hours) to spend in bed. There was one individual who, while scowling something fierce, was in a foul mood not because she needed to be up while it was still dark.

The unhappy expression on Courtney's face was because she was the _only_ one ready and raring to go by dawn's early light. A gauntleted hand gripped at her claymore's pommel in impatience as she told herself she would give the cleric, the sorcerer, and the bard to the count of ten to meet up with her. Otherwise she was leaving without them.

Said threat would have been more convincing if she had not told herself this some odd twenty times already.

Patience worn thin, Courtney marched back to the Inn, ready to drag the group out by their feet (it wouldn't have been the first time). Only as she reached for the handle, the door swung towards her, striking against her helmet with a resounding _clang _and sending her stumbling backwards.

"Oh gosh! Courtney!" Bridgette gasped, hands covering her mouth in horror. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think you'd be standing right there!"

Courtney righted her headgear savagely, teeth clenched, and anger flashing in her dark eyes. She opened her mouth, intending to thoroughly chew out Bridgette who was rooted to the spot. Unfortunately, the remaining two members of their party didn't realize the blonde had stopped in her tracks until it was too late. They collided right into her.

The next thing Courtney knew, she had a cleric, a sorcerer, and a bard dog-piling her.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Bridgette continued to apologize, flailing underneath Gwen and Trent.

"You okay there, Bridge?" Gwen's muffled voice asked with her face buried in the cleric's back while Trent rubbed at his head, groaning from atop of Gwen, "Everyone alright?"

"Someone's weapon is poking me," the cleric complained.

"I am going to give you three to the count of ten to get off of me before I smite your heads off," Courtney growled low, "One. Two."

The musician turned to check on Gwen and at the same time, she glanced over her shoulder to see how he was doing.

"_Is she serious?"_ Trent mouthed.

The sorcerer shook her head together with a reassuring smile but it quickly pulled into a grimace when the freckled brunette barked out, "_Nine_."

Courtney was a paladin, and as a paladin she had to act in line with her pantheon's code. But there was a lethal undertone in her voice that suggested she would find a way to justify to her actions and still retain her goddess' favor.

"What happened to three through eight?!" the raven-haired man cried out in dismay as he and the other two women scrambled to their feet.

An indignant _hmph _was heard when Courtney, now without the full weight of three people pinning her, righted herself and adjusted her armor. She glared her dark eyes at the trio of late comers, inspecting their attire and equipment critically. The paladin frowned in disdain at the bard's bloody garments. "Don't you have a change of clothes, Trent? Never mind, we're already behind schedule and I don't want to waste another moment."

The paladin turned on her heels and made her way out of the village without checking to see if the rest of her group was following.

"So, what exactly will we be looking for in the forest?" Bridgette asked, jogging up to walk beside Courtney.

"I'd like to find out where those Intern'ds came from," she answered.

"And if there are more than we can handle, we'll send word to the castle for help," Gwen clarified, eyeing Courtney pointedly. "Right?"

The paladin opened her mouth to argue when Bridgette cut in, "We'll tell Noah about it first. He'll make sure Sir Josh won't turn it into one of his ego-stroking events."

Pursing her lips, Courtney crossed her arms but nodded reluctantly. "Fine, if there's too much for us to handle, we'll send word to Noah. But how many is too much?"

The cleric and the sorcerer didn't seem to know themselves when Trent suggested, "Anything more than twenty seven."

"Why such an arbitrary number?" The paladin quirked a brow.

"It's not as random as you think. You three were able to handle six of them yesterday and you were essentially caught off-guard. I'd think that since you have the time to strategize and form a plan of attack, each of you would be able to deal with at least nine each. Besides," he grinned, his hand resting on his short sword's hilt. "It's not like I won't help either."

"Make it an even thirty," Courtney bargained, a smile creeping across her face.

"Uh..." Trent hesitated, beckoning either Bridgette or Gwen to chime in with their opinion.

"Thirty sounds about right, as long as it's not, you know, all at once?" the cleric mused, scratching at her chin with the handle of her mace.

"Can't argue with that," Gwen shrugged, trying to hide her uncertainty behind a blasé look.

"Great, and now, Trent, if you would be so kind," Courtney motioned for the bard. Trent tilted his head in confusion and began reaching for his mandolin when Courtney shook her head. "What I meant was take us to where you encountered the first Intern'd yesterday."

"Ah, got it," he chuckled sheepishly, moving towards the front of the group to retrace his steps. "It's this way."

"Gwen, go on ahead with Trent, Court and I'll bring up the rear," Bridgette nudged, giving the sorcerer a knowing wink. Gwen tried to maintain her usual unconcerned demeanor but there was a hint of a smile in her dark eyes.

"Wouldn't it make more sense if _I_ walked with Trent?" The paladin reasoned. "I mean, I _am_ a CIT and therefore the leader of this group."

"It's, uh, it's just been so long since you and I really talked! And-"

"We can talk when we've finished with this investigation. Or when we get to the next town so-"

"C'mon, Court, pleeeeeease?" Bridgette began batting her eyes at Courtney, and when the tanned woman didn't seem to relent, the cleric pouted like a puppy that had just been kicked. "For me?"

The long, controlled sigh Courtney released confirmed that she was fighting a losing battle with her friend. "I _hate_ it when you do that," she fumed through grit teeth, but all the same she hung back with the blonde.

* * *

"It's a bit of a walk from the village," Trent apologized to the sorcerer beside him. "But I think that's a good thing."

"Well, yeah, it means the village won't get swarmed by the undead so easily," Gwen said in agreement. "It's not like there's a necromancer leading them or anything. Was there?"

"Didn't see one but if there _had_ been a necromancer, I wouldn't have lasted long enough for you to save me," Trent laughed candidly.

"So you're not the least bit upset that women saved your manly hide?"

"Why would I be? Only an insecure brute would take issue at it," he shrugged.

"That's really refreshing," the sorcerer remarked, "You're so different from a lot of the men back in the capital. They're likely to throw a hissy fit if they were in your situation."

"So you don't think I'm manly?" Trent sounded more amused than upset when he posed the question.

Gwen smirked wryly at him, "From what I can see, especially through those rips in your clothes (you should get those patched up soon), Courtney's more toned than you are." A quick glance at the tanned paladin and that large sword of hers she carried with little effort had both bard and sorcerer chuckling to each other.

"Seriously though, you handled those Intern'ds all by yourself. I'd be hard pressed to question your manliness," Gwen assured him. She reached out to give him a pat on the shoulder before she even realized what she was doing.

"If that was all it took to prove I was a man I would have done that years ago."

"If you _had_ done that years ago, you'd be carrion," the sorcerer teased.

"Ah but another party is just as likely to chance upon me," Trent declared, drawing his mandolin from his back, his fingers expertly strumming the strings into the beginning of a song. "Such as the time when-"

Before he could continue, Courtney snapped "Serenade Gwen _after_ we find out where those Intern'ds came from!"

"He wasn't serenading me!" Gwen denied, though her cheeks felt hot at the paladin's accusation. "And why shouldn't he play? His music got our strengths back yesterday."

"I'm not discounting his contributions," Courtney explained, "But I also don't want to give ourselves away or draw unnecessary attention. Who knows what other manner of creatures there are lurking around."

"Music soothes the savage beast, Courtney," Gwen flatly reminded.

"It's not the beasts I'm worried about."

"Hey, it's alright, I should save my strength for later." The bard settled the argument and slung his instrument behind him. The four continued to walk in an awkward silence, broken only by the occasional rustle of foliage catching on Gwen's robe and the snapping of twigs underneath their boots.

Several moments passed when Gwen noticed Trent was intently studying her.

"What?" she whispered.

"It's nothing," he shook his head with a smile.

"That look on your face doesn't say nothing," Gwen pressed. "Come on, tell me."

Trent's smile widened, "Promise not to laugh?"

"I can't guarantee that," the sorcerer joked. "But I'll do my best."

The raven-haired man leaned in close, speaking so softly that only Gwen could hear, "I was just wondering if anyone ever told you your hair looks like it was spun from onyx and turquoise. And that your eyes shone like polished obsidian."

Under normal circumstances, if a man told that to the sorcerer, she would have just rolled her eyes, made a cutting, dismissive remark about unoriginality, and walked away. And that was when Gwen had brushed her hair and bothered to make herself halfway presentable to the general public. It wasn't something she ever expected to hear after spending several hours trudging through the underbrush, sweating buckets and fending off bugs, with a stray leaf or twig finding itself in her hair. Gwen didn't need a mirror to know she wasn't exactly in any state to be compared to precious gems.

And yet, the earnest tone in Trent's voice and that warm, happy glow in his eyes made the sorcerer feel like the precious gems should be honored they were being compared to her.

"N-no," Gwen hastily turned away, fixing her gaze straight ahead, trying to stave off the distinct heat from blooming in her cheeks. "I just bet you say that to all the girls you meet."

"Is it because I'm a bard and my profession is to spin all manner of tales for people?" His description was _not_ assuring Gwen of his sincerity.

"Isn't it?" She tried her best to sound detached, as if receiving compliments was no big deal and when she thought about it, it really was no big deal!

"You got me there," Trent admitted, "Does that mean I shouldn't also tell you how I liken you to an alabaster marvel?"

Gwen wasn't sure how to respond other than to keep staring ahead.

"Wait until she shows you how smart she is!" Bridgette suddenly cheered.

"Or how advanced her spell-casting is!" Courtney joined in.

"She also looks killer in a dress."

"It was even a tad on the daring side!"

"Don't make me rain fire on you both," Gwen threatened, brandishing her staff at the two grinning women.

"How daring was it?" Trent prompted, earning himself a withering glare from Gwen. "Uh, forget I said anything. Ah! There!" he exclaimed, pointing at a rotting tree trunk. "This was where I came across the first of those Intern'ds."

The group began to study the ground, trying to discern from the mess of tracks just where the undead could have come from. Trent proved himself a good addition when he distinguished which tracks were his and which were the undead's.

"So it came from over there."

"Then that is where we'll go. Bridge and I will take the lead this time, you two watch our backs," Courtney commanded, once again donning the mantle of leader. The brunette and the blonde went on ahead, leaving Gwen to deal with her embarrassment and discomfort. She should have just shot down Trent's compliments. It wouldn't have been her first time to stomp on a pompous, macho posturing guy's ego.

Then again, she wouldn't exactly call the bard pompous and macho posturing. Her dark eyes found themselves wandering towards Trent's square-cut jaw, then trailing up to his confident (not arrogant) smile, and finally stopped at those warm green eyes of his. She realized too late that he was staring back, and before she could break eye-contact, he quietly said, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Her brows furrowed.

"For telling you all that."

"Oh." Gwen felt her stomach knot in disappointment.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," he clarified. "I just thought you'd be used to hearing people tell you the truth."

"So you... you really think my eyes are like obsidian?" She found herself nervously chewing on her lower lip, unaware that the gesture made Trent's smile broaden in appreciation.

"Polished obsidian," he nodded. "I'll keep my thoughts to myself next time though."

"I-it's okay! For you to tell me what you think, that is." She paused, glancing towards the two women walking a few feet away. "Just make sure it's not within Bridgette or Courtney's earshot."

Trent laughed, "I promise."

* * *

Hours of searching later, all the group had to show for their efforts was one boar attack that swiftly ended thanks mostly to a visibly frustrated Courtney. With the wild animal driven off and Trent sporting a lump on his forehead (courtesy of Bridgette and her wayward shield), the group's CIT declared they could stand a bit of rest.

The bard smiled gratefully, waving away the apology Bridgette gave him for the nth time, "It's fine, really! Getting walloped by a shield happens to me more often than you think."

They began to set up a temporary camp as Bridgette made a final attempt to detect the undead. She slowly scanned their surroundings, eyes closed to focus on the invisible flow of energy while she turned in place. The blonde stopped, her green eyes flew open, and using her mace she pointed toward a particularly dense portion of the forest.

"There are two, no five! Five undead presences coming from that direction. They're pretty far, just at the fringes of what I can sense," she explained.

"_Finally_!" Courtney grinned, unsheathing her sword with a burst of energy. "Let's go, people! We don't want them to get away or worse, call for reinforcements."

As quietly as they could, the four attempted to sneak up on their targets, crouching low and darting from tree to tree. Bridgette took the lead, this time managing to keep herself from tripping or knocking her shield into someone. Only when the blonde indicated they were only a few feet away she abruptly stopped in her tracks.

"What?" Courtney impatiently hissed from behind.

"It's the undead... their numbers..."

"Are there more of them!?" Gwen gasped, instinctively clutching her staff tighter.

The cleric shook her head, "Sorta? I mean there are four more several yards away but the first five I sensed... there's only one left."

"How did that happen?"

"I don't know, maybe they-"

A high-pitched scream rang out through the forest, cutting off the rest of Bridgette's words. And immediately afterwards, a man laughed. Loud and boisterous, whoever he was his mirth was drowning out the moans of the remaining undead.

The group remained in their tracks, their confusion multiplying when a second male voice squealed out, "Dude, that is _not_ funny!"

"Yeah it is, man! I mean, you barely blinked when these suckers attacked us but then you lose it when one of the intestines land on you?"

"I thought it was a snake, okay! You _know_ I really, really, _really_ don't like snakes!"

"Dude, you're a _druid_, aren't you like, supposed to be able to communicate with animals and stuff?"

"Just because I can don't mean I should. Now are you gonna take that last one out, or am I gonna have to clean up as usual?"

"Nah, man, I got it." The crack of thunder that followed in the span of a heartbeat had the four adventurers jumping in surprise. And had Bridgette's shield clattering noisily. Which had the unfortunate result of catching the two strangers' attention.

"Bunny, you stay right there where it's safe," the druid commanded, the earlier squeaky voice earlier now an entire octave deeper.

"Wait!" Courtney called out just as two figures emerged from the thickets. "We mean you no harm!"

"Oh," the taller of the two men remarked, straightening out of a fighting stance to tower over the group. Even when all traces of hostility disappeared instantly from his face, replaced with a wide, genial smile that stretched from ear to ear, the man's broad frame still looked more than imposing. "That's good. I don't really enjoy fighting against other people."

"Man, you shouldn't trust people too easy," his blond companion clucked his tongue, peering suspiciously at the group with his baby blue eyes from under the brim of his leather hat. He had one hand in his pants pocket while the other idly twirled a pistol by its trigger guard. "For all we know, they might be out to bamboozle us."

"Ex_cuse_ me?!" Courtney bristled indignantly, dark eyes wide in shock.

"Listen," Gwen quickly stepped in. "Our cleric," she began, pulling Bridgette to her side, "Sensed some undead up ahead and we came to get rid of them."

The blonde woman waved and gave the two men what she hoped was a calming smile, "But it looks like you two got things under control so we'll just be on our-"

An earsplitting keen pierced the air, and the unsettling groans of animated corpses chilled the group.

"That sounds a _lot_ more than four." Trent gulped, nervously eyeing the others.

"BUNNY!" the druid shrieked. Just as he moved to rush back to where he'd left his animal companion, a tiny blur shot out of the bushes and careened into the tall man. The large man let out whimper of relief, cradling the one-eared rabbit protectively to his chest. He even went so far as to babble for the small, trembling bundle of fur to calm down.

Had the stench of rotting meat not fell so quickly upon them, the four would have stared at the druid's open display of affection. But with Intern'ds bursting forth from the thicket every which way, the group had more important things to deal with.

The paladin swung her claymore with enough force to decapitate the nearest animated corpses. Unfortunately, that same blow also caused her to bury her blade into a tree trunk. She mentally screamed in frustration, a foot braced against the tree as she struggled to pull her weapon out, almost failing to realize Intern'ds had closed in on her.

Green lightning struck and scorched and singed, burning away Courtney's attackers while leaving her untouched. Gratefully, the paladin nodded to Gwen in thanks, managing to finally retrieve her claymore. Hefting the large sword, she prepared herself to return the favor but saw Trent hacking and stabbing at the corpses that lumbered towards Gwen.

When she deemed the bard's defenses were enough to allow the sorcerer enough time to unleash a jet of fire from her staff, Courtney threw herself back into the fray, this time more conscious of her surroundings.

"Alllll riiiiiiiiiiiiiight!" the gunslinger cheered, effortlessly downing Intern'ds with just enough bullets to destroy its brain. He continued to pull the trigger until the telltale clicks of an empty barrel reached his ears. "Uh oh." Of all the times to see three of the creatures coming up fast to his left...

Reaching for his ammo, he braced himself for the clawing and biting he would have to take. But upon impact, instead of nails and teeth shredding at him, he found it was Bridgette's back pressing up against him. She had thrown herself between the blond man and the incoming rush of undead, using the shield to protect them both.

"Hurry up and recharge!" the cleric yelled, the stench of the undead threatening to overwhelm her. She dug her boots into the ground, her eyes squeezing shut from the effort, refusing to give the abominations any quarter while the man behind her smoothly refilled the barrel.

"It's _reload_, but you got it, babe," he grinned, tipping his hat out of his line of sight and taking aim. Even with the man's pistol positioned in front of her, Bridgette knew she was going to be hard of hearing after the fight.

When the pressure pushing against her lightened, the cleric opened her eyes and frowned that one body was slumped atop her shield, smoke wafting out of its headless neck. She cringed and started to look a little green when a gloved hand reached out to push the corpse off. Bridgette raised her gaze, found the gunslinger's blue eyes peering down at her and his lips quirked into an amused smile. Neither of them seemed eager to point out how Bridgette's back was still pressed up against the man's muscular chest.

The cleric felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and since the blond man didn't act like she was in any danger, she turned and saw it was the druid. "What's wrong?" she asked and was startled to find the large man shoving his one-eared rabbit into her arms.

"For safe keeping," he explained.

The pistolero grinned, whispering, "Oh this is gonna be _good_!" into the shell of the cleric's ear.

Bridgette felt his breath tickle her skin, but before she could give any further thought to the sensation of heat, her eyes widened. There was an ape-like animal with purple fur where the druid had been standing. The beast bared sharp teeth when it let out a roar before mercilessly tearing the remaining undead stragglers apart with massive paws. She gulped, thoroughly relieved that they didn't have to fight him.

Finally, all was quiet in the forest, save for labored breathing.

"Do you believe us _now_ when we say we mean no harm?" Courtney demanded of the blond man, her arms akimbo, claymore already sheathed. "And that we're not out to bamboozle you?"

"Yeah, you totally aren't. If you were, you'd have split and left us. Not that we wouldn't be able to handle them all- Ow!" the gunslinger yelped, rubbing the back of his head, "DJ, what was that for?" he glared at the druid who had smacked him.

"You were being rude," the druid known as DJ frowned grimly at his companion. Facing the four, he brightened, "Thank you, I'm DJ, this is Bunny, and my friend over here is Geoff."

The paladin straightened out, cleared her throat and began her introduction spiel. "I'm Courtney, Captain in Training from the Kingdom of-"

"This is Bridgette, I'm Gwen, and this is Trent," the sorcerer wisely finished on her friend's behalf.

"What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Geoff asked while inspecting the corpses for any possible valuables.

"The nearby village hired us to investigate some strange incidents that have been happening, disappearances and violent attacks," Courtney answered, openly frowning at the looting. "And you two?"

"Just checking up on how the secret abandoned mine was doing," DJ answered without batting an eye. Then promptly slapped a hand to his mouth.

"Secret-" Bridgette began.

"Abandoned-" Trent followed.

"Mine?" Gwen finished.

"DUDE!" Geoff groaned in exasperation, bringing his palm to his face while he shook his head. "At least you didn't tell them it's just up ahead." Then Geoff promptly slapped a hand to his mouth.

"Geoff!"

The druid's call came too late because Courtney was already off in a flash towards the direction the gunslinger had supplied. Bridgette, Gwen, and Trent immediately went after her, which naturally prompted DJ and Geoff to go after _them_.

* * *

For someone wearing a lot of armor Courtney barreled on through the forest as if she were only in cloth breeches. She was _that_ determined to find this secret abandoned mine, less out of a genuine sense of curiosity and more because there were no records of a mine, abandoned or otherwise, anywhere near the village. If she could get proof, this would definitely earn her some respect from the cartographers back in the capital and bring her one step closer to becoming Captain of the Guards!

Also, this would possibly explain where all the Intern'ds were coming from. Mustn't forget about her obligation to the village chief now.

True to the blond man's words, running straight ahead brought her to a clearing where she could see the mine entrance. Marching up to the mine's mouth, she noted the scattered branches and rotting planks strewn about, indicating someone had gone in recently. After adjusting her helmet, she took one step forward, tensed, and leapt back in time to avoid taking a battleaxe to her head. Her claymore was in her hands by the time her landed, her soles crunching the brittle planks like kindling.

Her dark eyes went saucer wide, briefly, then they narrowed at the man in black armor standing before her. He had his battleaxe propped across his shoulders, his hands casually gripping the handle.

"Not bad," he noted, the bright green plume on his helmet bobbing when he tilted his head. "You're pretty fast on your feet."

"And you're in my way," Courtney snarled, not in the least bit intimidated. "It would be in your best interest to _move_, blackguard."

He snorted, hefting his weapon to brandish it at the armored woman, "_Make_ me, paladin."

She did not like the smirk that played across the man's lips. She did not like it one bit. She met his stare coolly, her face a careful mask, though every muscle in her body was taut, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

She was about to launch herself forward when from behind her, DJ hollered, "DUNCAN! A BUNCH OF ADVENTURERS ARE HE- awww shoot!" the druid groaned, skidding to a halt when he saw Courtney had beaten him to the mine.

"Relax, DJ, I got this," the blackguard declared cockily, blue eyes glittering in malicious delight, "This won't take long."

Courtney's temper flared at Duncan's insulting words but she allowed herself a smirk. It wasn't the first time a man underestimated her in a fight and until she became an actual Captain, she was sure it wouldn't be the last. As if the pour salt on her wounded pride, the blackguard sneered, "Tell you what, sweetheart, I'll let you take free swing at me," and dropped his guard, lowering his battleaxe to his side.

Her eyes flashed in fury at the taunt and growled out, "Oh how _generous_."

"Don't ever say I ain't a gentleman," the man in black armor chuckled, not the least bit perturbed by the intense wave of anger radiating from the paladin.

She snorted none too delicately before beginning to murmur a prayer for her goddess to bestow favor upon her. Courtney felt a twinge of satisfaction at the blackguard's blue eyes widening in disbelief when a radiant light enveloped her claymore. Did he honestly expect her to hold back just because he was "letting" her have the first strike? The thought made Courtney smile.

Perhaps there were paladins whose chosen deities forbade them from committing such actions. Mildred, however, was not one of them. Shifting her weight, Courtney kicked off against the ground, launching herself forward to swing her large sword right for the blackguard's chest. She would have gone for his head but she wanted him alive to regret his attitude towards her.

However instead of carving into armor, she felt her blade strike against the sharp curve of Duncan's battleaxe. Upon impact, the radiant light burst forth, hurtling the blackguard right into the mountain wall just beside the mine's entrance and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

There was the resounding rumble of metal breaking rock, and Courtney straightened herself to admire her handiwork. "You were so right, blackguard, this didn't take long _at all_," she jeered, lowering her sword while planting one hand on her armored hip.

"It ain't over yet, sweetheart," the armored man coughed before dropping his weapon to the ground. Gauntleted hands braced themselves on either side of Duncan, and with a loud grunt, he shoved himself free of the mountain wall's embrace. He leaned forward in mid-air, reaching to retrieve his axe while simultaneously tucking into a roll, his helmet falling off in the process.

Courtney scoffed in annoyance, she was certain that the blackguard would have been unconscious had he not blocked at the last minute. "What's the matter, I thought I got a free swing?" she repeated his words in mockery, already back in a fighting stance that kept her weapon close to her body, "Whatever happened to being a gentleman?"

From his crouched position, Duncan glowered at the paladin through the bangs of his ebony hair, "I never said I'd be stupid." With that he charged at her with ground devouring strides, keeping as low to the ground as possible.

"_Really_? I thought that was how you blackguards normally are!" she snapped, bringing her sword down to meet the upward arc of his attack.

"That's _just_ like a paladin. Shoving down your beliefs in everyone's throats," he spat back with a grin. The under curve of his axe hooked onto the claymore and he gave a powerful tug, nearly disarming the paladin had she not readjusted her grip and flowed with the movement.

Metal grating against metal made Courtney's hair stand on end but she grit her teeth against the sound and ground out, "Only when we're _right_!"

She tilted her sword against the battleaxe, twisting her long blade towards the axe's handle in her own attempt to relieve Duncan of his weapon. But at the peak of her twist, she made the mistake of leaving herself open and caught a sharp kick to her stomach. The blow nearly bent her in half and completely robbed her of her breath. She dropped to the ground, clutching at her gut, struggling to bring air back into her lungs while she kept herself propped up with her sword.

The sight of the blackguard's shadow shrinking had her body reacting on instinct, throwing herself aside and causing Duncan to narrowly miss burying his axe in her shoulders. Instead, the blackguard grazed Courtney's helmet with enough force to knock her headgear completely off. As she rolled to safety, she heard a distraught gasp.

Coming to a halt on her stomach, Courtney inclined her head towards the source and saw a very dismayed DJ with an equally terrified Bunny perched on his shoulder. She'd almost forgotten that the druid was there. That was a bad sign. She knew she should always be aware of her surroundings especially when in a fight. But there was just _something_ about the blackguard that seemed to draw all her focus and attention.

"Duncan, I-I think you should stop. This ain't right, man!" the druid called out, looking torn between what Courtney supposed was loyalty to the blackguard and his stated dislike of fighting with people.

"You got lousy timing, DJ. Why you gotta say that when I'm _winning_?" Duncan snorted before beginning to mouth something.

Courtney's breathing returned to her, but it was ragged and her earlier fight against the undeads had finally caught up with her. Her eyes widened when she saw the battleaxe take on a sinister black glow and it occurred to the CIT that if her opponent finished his prayer, she might not be so lucky on his next strike. She bit back against the pain in her protesting muscles and channeled every last ounce of strength she had into her limbs.

Forcing herself back up from her prone position, Courtney shoved herself up and broke into a mad dash, a thunderous battle cry emerging from her throat. The burst of speed closed the gap between Courtney and Duncan in a blink of an eye, and when she was in range, she slashed at his chest. The paladin's sudden appearance took Duncan by surprise and the black glow of his axe dissipated when her sword sliced into his armor.

Once again, he was flung backwards, his back striking the wall and falling to his knees after the ricochet. "_Fucking_ hell!" He cursed, spitting out blood.

"So. Vulgar," Courtney panted out each word in disgust, clutching at the deep ache her last attack caused to flare in her stomach. She swallowed thickly, fearing that Duncan's earlier kick had broken one or two of her ribs. Despite the agony burning inside her, her dark eyes didn't so much as flinch when she met his.

However, she felt her heart hammer harder against her chest when it became apparent his blue eyes were alight in utter _glee_. How could he be enjoying himself?! Did _none _of her strikes do anything?! Courtney was at a loss on how to deal with someone like the blackguard.

"Don't tell me you're already giving up, princess," Duncan wiped his mouth with the back of his gauntleted hand, smearing his blood across his lips, giving his already wicked aura a much more feral edge. "Things were just getting _fun_."

"I am no princess!" Courtney spat, her anger the only thing keeping her from outright collapsing. "I am a paladin! Not just _any_ paladin but a Captain in Training, you- you _brute_!" Courtney immediately hated herself for such a weak retort.

At the insult, the blackguard gave a bark of laughter that he quickly cut off. No, Courtney did not miss the cringe that briefly flashed across the man's chiseled features. Buoyed by this momentary hint that her opponent was not immune to pain, Courtney once again sought to attack. In the span of time it took for the paladin to reach Duncan, he managed to regain his battleaxe and shifted his stance to meet Courtney head on.

But before their weapons could clash for one final time, strong arms suddenly grappled the blackguard while a shield planted itself in Courtney's way. As both armored fighters struggled against their captors, a melody so gentle and calming flitted into their ears. They were both asleep in no time.


	4. Fill Me In

**A/N: **And I thought chapter three was long x.x Don't worry, readers, I _promise_ Chapter Five won't turn out to be some sort of gargantuan wall of text. Gonna take a bit of a break from writing it though. A big thank you to _SargentEpsilon_, _personyoudon'tknow_, and _Mr. Aanonymous_ for reviewing. And thank you to the people who are following the fic. I know it's not a very popular theme or setting but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

* * *

**Chapter Four: Fill Me In**

When Courtney woke up, she was sore. Not nearly-beaten-to-a-pulp sore, which was a disappointment to her ego because the more difficult the opponent the sweeter the victory (and no, the thought she lost never _once_ crossed her mind), but a slept-on-hard-ground sore. With a soft groan she slowly sat up, realizing night had fallen and a campfire was merrily crackling nearby.

Several figures were seated around the fire either softly chatting or listening to the melody of Trent's playing. The flame glinted off of Courtney's claymore, the large sword resting invitingly in the empty spot beside the cleric's familiar silhouette.

"What happened?" Courtney asked groggily, instinctively retrieving her weapon and strapping it back to its rightful place on her hip.

"Bridgette healed your injuries. But Trent had to put you to sleep first," Gwen answered matter-of-factly, offering a wild boar's leg to Courtney.

The paladin pursed her lips in irritation, shooting the bard (whose ripped clothes had now _thankfully_ been washed and repaired) a glare upon accepting the proffered food. She took a tentative nibble of the meat and upon deeming it tasted _fantastic_, took several more bites as she took a seat. "Why would he do that?" she asked after swallowing each mouthful, still mindful of her manners.

Bridgette's gentle hand fell upon Courtney's shoulder, "Because you were about to get killed."

"I was not!" she whipped around, dark eyes livid, "If anyone was at death's door it would have been that blackguard, Duncan!"

"You remembered my name? I'm touched, princess," a man chuckled.

Courtney snapped her head towards the voice and saw DJ coaxing his animal companion to take a bite out of a leaf. Even sitting on the ground the large man still towered over the group. Directly beside DJ was Geoff, who gave Courtney a lazy smile before returning to cleaning his pistol with a rag. In the gap between the gunslinger and the druid, the paladin spotted a bright green plume cresting a black helmet that was resting atop a bent knee.

She felt her eye twitch at the sight. "What are _they_ doing here?! What is _he_ doing here?!" the CIT demanded hotly, her dark eyes wide and glaring accusingly at the people in her group. Trent decided the best course of action was to avoid making any eye contact. And while Gwen met the paladin's stare without flinching she nudged Bridgette towards the infuriated self-proclaimed leader.

"Well..." Bridgette initially stammered under the intensity of her friend's glare, but over the years she'd come to learn how to take Courtney's temper in stride. With a much stronger resolve, the cleric explained why exactly they were sharing a camp with the three men.

"You and Duncan were about to kill each other. Okay fine, _seriously hurt_ each other. Don't deny it, Court, you had _that_ look on your face. Good thing Trent's music lulled you both to sleep otherwise my mace would have taken up the challenge."

"Still don't see why we're all around the same campfire," Duncan interrupted, still lying down behind DJ, hands behind his head.

"She's getting to it, aren't you, Bridge?" Geoff defended, giving the cleric a thumb's up.

A goofy smile tugged at the cleric's lips then realizing what expression she was making, she cleared her throat. "Err, right. Anyway, turns out the mine the guys were using as a sort of vault-"

At that Duncan shot up to his feet angrily, helmet falling off his knee to clatter noisily to the ground, "You two _told_ them?!"

"Man, chill, they promised not to say anything to anyone. Besides, it's not like we told them the exact route to take," the gunslinger reasoned, trying to calm the blackguard down.

"_I_ never agreed to that promise!" Courtney exclaimed, arms akimbo, "The discovery of this mine was supposed to help me gain more notoriety in court."

"In the interest of fairness and honor, _they_ found it first, Courtney," Gwen said.

The paladin ground her teeth in frustration, "So?! It's still in the Kingdom and by default it and everything it contains belongs to the King!"

"Even all Intern'ds inside?" Duncan sneered as he sat back down.

"Yes, even the-" Courtney stopped short. "So all those Intern'ds we've fought, they all came from that mine?"

"Obviously." The blackguard nonchalantly shrugged, pulling out a small knife to whittle at a branch. "It was one of the perks of using the place to stash our loot. Its got natural or should I say _unnatural_ defenses."

"Mildred's golden locks, of all the irresponsible things I've ever heard!" The freckled CIT reached for her claymore. "Come clean! Which one of you was the necromancer that summoned all those abominations?"

"Hey, those things were _already _there when we found it," Duncan growled, the battleaxe having replaced the small knife.

Courtney met the armored man's glower, "And I suppose you "accidentally" forgot to board up the entrance during you last visit?"

"Actually," DJ raised his arm, cringing when the action brought Courtney's glare on him, "We never bothered to board up the entrance. We just sorta piled up junk in front of it to hide it."

Three pairs of eyes stared at the druid in disbelief, simultaneously expressing their shock with a resounding "WHAT?!"

"It's a miracle the village hasn't been razed to the ground!" Bridgette gasped in horror.

At Trent's confusion, Gwen went to explain, "Intern'ds aren't very smart but they come in droves and are naturally drawn to living things."

"Or loud noises," Courtney added, glaring at the pistol Geoff had in its holster.

The blond man got up from his seat and draped an arm casually on the paladin's pauldron. "Hey, everyone, chill." The audacity and candor of the gunslinger's gesture stunned Courtney enough that she let him keep his arm where it was (or _at all_). "The Intern'ds never ventured outta the mines before. Actually, they never even made it as far as the first fork from the entrance. Guess there's a first time for everything!" he laughed.

Shrugging the arm off, Courtney turned to her group and decided: "We are investigating this suspicious claim."

"We knew you were going to say that," Bridgette said, finally managing to regain control of the conversation. "Which was why the guys said they'd be willing to show us around the mine and help us get rid of all the Intern'ds we come across."

"What's the catch?" the armored woman demanded, dark eyes narrowing at the druid and gunslinger.

"We'd _really_ appreciate it if you kept the mine and our loot in it a secret, Courtney," DJ nervously answered.

"No deal," Courtney insisted stubbornly.

"Or we can just pick up where we left off, sweetheart," Duncan suggested, his weapon propped across his shoulders. "Winner gets his way." Menacing shadows danced across his features, his blue eyes dimly glowing from the firelight, his lips pulled up in a threatening smirk. A lesser man would have balked at the sight.

Courtney, on the other hand, simply stood as tall as her stature allowed, posture ramrod straight, chin thrust defiantly at the tall black-armored man. "I think you mean _her_ way."

"I think you should get that lance out of your ass," he retorted.

"I think you should become more acquainted with my blade!" she yelled.

"I think you two should kiss and make out," Trent murmured a little louder than he planned. The glares the bard earned made him question whether paladins or blackguards had the ability to set things alight just by looking at them. The glares also made him question what on earth possessed him to make the remark.

He heard Gwen quietly chuckle beside him before giving him an amused smile. Oh right.

"That's not such a bad idea," DJ beamed, "A truce between you two would probably help convince Courtney that we're not bad guys _and_ we deserve to keep our mine."

"Isn't diplomacy one of the key traits of a Captain of the Guards?" Bridgette added.

Duncan and Courtney both looked equally displeased at the prospect but eventually they caved under further pressure from their respective set of friends.

"The instant he sets one foot out of line the truce is off. Along with his head!" Courtney warned.

"I've seen dire wolves with sweeter dispositions than you, princess," he snorted.

"At least I don't fight as dirty as I smell," she sniffed.

"You're not exactly a field of honeysuckles yourself," he jeered.

"Guys! Truce?" DJ reminded.

"Fine."

"Whatever."

Both armored fighters snapped, and promptly turned their backs on each other. Several moments of uneasy silenced passed.

"Okay, uh, when do we leave then?" Trent confirmed.

"Crack of dawn."

"Noon."

The blackguard and paladin were back to glowering at each other.

"How about after breakfast?" Geoff suggested, "DJ makes the _best _morning spreads."

"Fine."

"Whatever."

The rest of the group knew they were in for a very long day tomorrow.

* * *

The rest of the night was spent without incident, and come dawn, Bridgette woke to begin her daily meditation. She sat up and found Courtney kneeling some distance away, already in the middle of her morning prayers.

As silently as she could, she padded up to her friend, arriving to catch the tail-end of the paladin's soft but fervent murmurings,

"_-for your wisdom and guidance. I seek for the patience and fortitude to deal with that arrogant son of a beaver. And if I am asking for too much, then at least grant me a legitimate reason to smite him in your name."_

Bridgette could only stifle a chuckle at Courtney being, well, Courtney. She waited a few more moments until the brunette finally unclasped her hands.

"How many times have you prayed for that last one, Court?" the blonde giggled, making herself comfortable beside the CIT.

"I'll have you know I've only uttered that three times not including this one," came the reply. "Or were you talking about the subject matter?"

The blonde let out a snort of laughter, "I'm guessing you've lost count then. It's a good thing Mildred doesn't forbid her paladins from holding grudges."

"We're expected to let go of it eventually. Though how eventually is measured was never really clarified," Courtney wryly smiled, "Sometimes it's nice to have loopholes."

The two women lapsed into a familiar silence, broken only by the woodland sounds of rustling leaves and birds greeting the day with their songs. Bridgette gradually inched closer to Courtney, partly because she disliked woodland creatures and partly because she had something to discuss.

"Spit it out, Bridge," the paladin instructed while side-eyeing the cleric.

"I really think you should keep the mine a secret from the King."

"Withholding information about a potentially useful resource is grounds for treason," Courtney warned sternly.

"It's an abandoned mine, Court. And it's teeming with undead from Geoff's account. If more people found out about it, we could be putting a lot of lives in danger." Bridgette argued.

"Right, they didn't offer you a percentage for your silence did they?"

"No! Of course not! How could you think that?!" the blonde gasped, looking very wounded.

Courtney bit her lower lip then hung her head in apology, "You're right, sorry. I know you better than that. Which means you were either threatened into this," The paladin's gaze darted towards the camp, particularly the recently roused blackguard then back to the cleric.

Bridgette shook her head to Courtney's relief.

"Or you genuinely think they deserve to keep this mine."

Bridgette nodded her head to Courtney's chagrin.

"Explain to me why exactly?"

"Look, while you and Duncan were out cold, Geoff and DJ told us a little about themselves. They're both really good people, Court. DJ's out travelling the world learning about all sorts of plants and gathering them to help with his mother's apothecary. He's also the gentlest guy I've ever met and he even patched up Trent's clothes.

"And Geoff's... well, he's really nice and friendly and just so agreeable. Even _Gwen_ seems to like him. I don't think it's right they don't get to keep what they earned through hard work just because you have a problem with Duncan."

"Oh Bridgette," Courtney sighed, "They could be lying. They could be wanted bandits or brigands. They could be mercenaries who go around looting villages in between fighting for warlords. I mean just _look_ at them!"

Bridgette turned back towards camp. Somehow, DJ curled protectively around his little one-eared rabbit and the open-mouthed snores from Geoff didn't quite strike either woman as particularly dangerous or devious.

"Okay, bad example," Courtney conceded. "They may be genuinely good people but _Duncan_ obviously calls the shots in their group. They would probably listen to his orders and do whatever he tells them to even if it involves attacking caravans or slaughtering innocents or-" she stopped, hearing the dull thud of armor falling to the ground.

Both cleric and paladin turned to investigate, and both saw Duncan in the middle of stripping down to his trousers. Once the last bit of clothing and armor was removed, the bare-chested blackguard began going through a series of stances with his axe.

As a cleric, Bridgette has healed several grievous wounds and serious injuries so seeing barely dressed people weren't all that distracting to the blonde. She was genuinely surprised (and thoroughly amused) to find that _Courtney_, however, had lost her train of thought just because she saw the dark-haired man wearing less than his full set of armor.

Honestly, the blonde thought her friend should be used to it, given the daily training and sparring sessions the paladin engaged in. But then again, the paladins and paladins-in-training might practice a sense of modesty Duncan didn't care for.

"So smooth." The paladin uttered.

"What?" green eyes blinked.

"Did you see the way his form just _flows_ from defensive to offensive and back? That sort of grace isn't something you learn unless you were born with it," Courtney breathed, her dark eyes saucer-wide and gleaming in admiration. Then the glow in her eyes darkened, finishing grimly, "Or it was beat into you from a young age."

"Are you considering the possibility you would have lost to him yesterday?" Bridgette sounded concerned.

"What? No! Of course not!" Courtney huffed. "Even if I think an individual is a base creature working for the side of all things evil and detestable, I am capable of appreciating said individual's form and technique!" The paladin's tone had jumped up an octave and inadvertently alerted Duncan that he was being watched.

He planted the axe's blade into the soft earth, with his palm resting on the base of the weapon's handle he gave the cleric and paladin a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile. Tilting his head forward ever so slightly, he practically purred, "Like what you see, ladies?"

The blonde only shook her head in amusement while her friend beside her had gone ramrod straight. Bridgette tried her best not to laugh when Courtney's face turned bright scarlet. She tried and failed _miserably_.

"Bridgette! Shut up!" Courtney hissed, trying to swat the cleric into silence. To no avail because Bridgette continued to laugh until she woke the others.

"Morning already?" DJ yawned, stretching out his muscles.

"What is going _on_?" Gwen grumbled as she untangled herself from her bedroll. The sorcerer also surreptitiously removed Trent's arm draped over her stomach.

"N-nothing," Bridgette giggled, wiping away the tears in her eyes.

"That's right! Nothing!" Courtney hotly insisted, decidedly looking at everyone _but_ Duncan.

"Princess wants me, that's all," the blackguard smirked with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Why do you keep calling me that?!" Courtney demanded, still _not_ looking at Duncan.

"Because it's _fun_," he answered, clearly enjoying the paladin's discomfort.

Courtney huffed childishly. Her cheeks still a brilliant red as she stood up to stomp off into the forest to go foraging.

"I'll go with you," the cleric piped up.

"Count me in," Geoff volunteered, casually throwing an arm around the blonde woman's shoulders. Rather than shrugging the limb off of her, Bridgette thought she didn't quite mind it.

* * *

Duncan watched the three disappear into the forest before resuming his daily morning regimen with grim determination. He hadn't slept well, a result of spending the night with people he was unfamiliar with. It didn't matter if they had all been as friendly and open as Bridgette (having one of them be a self-righteous, uptight, do-gooder paladin who made it very clear she wanted to gut him certainly did not help), he just did not rest easy when new people were around.

By nature, Duncan did not lower his guard easily, and unless ensorcelled, severely injured, or completely exhausted, was a light sleeper. He started at every sudden rustle, every crunching leaf, ready to defend himself and his buddies if need be. Paranoid he may be but until the morning came, he was convinced Courtney would have lopped his head off the moment he nodded off.

But seeing as how his head was still attached to his neck, paladins actually kept their word. Huh. How about that? Now he only had two problems, namely finding a new place to stash his loot, and transporting said loot to the new location. Then again, was it just the _one_ problem that came with heavy armor, a sword that would suggest its owner was compensating for something had she been a man, arm strength most men would give their left nut for, brown hair, a dusting of freckles, and wide, dark eyes? Wait where exactly was his train of thoughts going with this?

Oh, right, forcing his exhausted body through the strenuous exercises and stances that kept him ready to fight at a moment's notice. With a grunt, he swung his axe upward, chopping a thick, low-hanging branch clean off the tree, and catching it with one arm.

"Hey Deej, think fast!" Duncan yelled, chucking the length of wood at the druid. DJ didn't even need to look up from where he sat to grab the branch mid-air.

"Nice and dry, I'll have a fire going in no time! And I can get started with breakfast as soon as the others return."

Duncan tuned out the rest of DJ's chatter, clearing his mind to focus on finishing his exercises. Something in his gut told him he was going to have to be in peak condition for whatever awaited them that day. Wolfishly he grinned, _Challenge accepted._

By the time he finished his routine, Geoff, Bridgette, and Courtney returned with enough game and edible plants to feed the entire group for at least three days. Maybe more if DJ got creative.

"Geoff went a little overboard," the cleric apologized to a very dismayed DJ.

"All these poor animals, don't worry, I'll make sure your deaths weren't in vain!" the druid declared in between sniffles and began talking to the kill. "You will be dried and turned to jerky. You will be stewed. You will be roasted with this heavenly marinade I recently learned. _You_ I'll skin and tan your hide and then the rest of you will-"

It was a disturbing sight for the women and Trent, but it was completely natural Geoff and Duncan. The two men shrugged, "We let him do whatever. The food he makes always comes out incredible."

"In the meantime, I propose we figure out what exactly we'll be doing once we've eaten," Courtney declared.

"Surprise, surprise," Duncan muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Well excuse me for not wanting to waste any time!" she snapped, though Duncan noted she still refused to look at him.

"It's not like we have anything else to talk about," Trent carefully ventured, "So how exactly are we going to investigate the mine?"

"Think we could split up into three groups? We'll cover more ground that way."

"Don't you know it's a bad idea to split up when dealing with the undead?" Gwen chided with a frown.

"Pale-chick's right," Duncan agreed, promptly ignoring the glare from the sorcerer and bard, "We split up and we'll get picked off one-by-one."

"How wide are the tunnels, though? If we can't pass unless we're in a straight line, surely it must be the same for the Intern'ds," Bridgette added in her thoughts.

"The tunnels are big enough to let two people pass each other," Geoff detailed, "Liiiiiiiike two guys maybe just a bit bigger than DJ."

"That sounds like it doesn't give much room for the undead to swarm us," Courtney calculated, "But if we do split up, each group should have one person capable of fending for themselves against the undead."

"Bridgette and Courtney shouldn't go together, then," DJ stated from his side of the camp. He'd been listening while he skinned and carved and prepared the marinade.

"Gwen's got some serious firepower on her, too." Trent reminded.

"You two did work really well together yesterday," Courtney recalled, "No sense in changing that. But I think DJ should go with you in case you need the extra muscle."

"That fine with me," Gwen shrugged, turning away to hide the small smile creeping across her lips. Sure they were going to be exploring a musty old abandoned mine, but she was going to be with Trent. Things didn't seem too bad to her.

"I think I should go with Bridgette," Geoff piped up, that easy going smile faltering slightly at the stunned look on the cleric's face. "I mean, she can provide cover with that shield of hers and then bash at any undead that comes near!"

Courtney hesitantly nodded at the strategy. Hesitantly because by process of elimination, it meant: "That leaves me with _Duncan._"

"If you just wanted quality time with me, princess, all you gotta do is ask," he said, bowing at the waist in mock gallantry.

"Don't flatter yourself, blackguard," she sniffed in disdain, still not looking at him. Well not _directly_ at him, she had been watching him from the corner of her eyes. "I'm only agreeing to this arrangement because I don't trust you enough to safeguard my friends should danger arise."

Duncan chose to interpret the faint tinge of scarlet on Courtney's cheeks as the beginnings of embarrassment rather than budding rage. If he'd been more familiar with the paladin, he might have guessed it was both.

"And put your clothes on, for Mildred's sake!"

Again, the wolfish grin pulled at his mouth. _Challenge most _definitely_ accepted._

* * *

"Let me go first, Gwen," Trent volunteered when the groups split up to explore and take inventory of just how many of the animated corpses the mine contained. "DJ will bring up the rear so you're protected from both sides."

"I don't need protecting," the sorcerer frowned then tried to move past the bard. A gentle but firm hand gripped at her forearm, not quite pulling her back, more like coaxing her. She turned, not surprised to find it was Trent, but her heart skipped a beat when she realized just how close he was standing to her, DJ's tall frame holding up the lantern some feet away.

The faint light cast shadows across his strong features, green eyes pleading for her to listen, "I know you can handle yourself. I meant for when you cast your spells."

The sorcerer didn't argue the logic behind his words, couldn't find any cause to be indignant, and so she let him pass. The trio marched on, turning this way and that according to DJ's instructions, eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness threatening to swallow them whole. They took a few steps forward, pausing whenever Trent stumbled over a stalagmite or smacked his head against a low-hanging bat.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Gwen asked in concern.

"None?" was the bard's uncertain response.

"That's it," the sorcerer replied, "DJ, if you'd please take the lead. You do have the lantern after all."

"Sure Gwen, if you don't mind holding Bunny," the large man cheerfully handed his furry companion to the pale woman. Despite Trent's protests, the three moved on with the bard and druid's position switched. With one arm holding the rabbit against her, Gwen thrust her other arm behind her, hand reaching for Trent's. Only when she felt his fingers twine with hers did the sorcerer follow after DJ.

Every so often, the druid would squeal whenever a rat scurried underfoot or a cave spider dropped on his shoulder. If the light from their lantern hadn't drawn the undeads' attention, the ruckus the large man made would have eventually. And just as Trent predicted, Gwen needed all her focus and concentration to cast the right spell without causing a cave in.

"How many was that?" she asked, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Around half a dozen, plus the three Trent dispatched," DJ counted, rising to his feet after ducking the jet of green fire Gwen unleashed. Up ahead, groaning echoed along the mine's tunnel. Uneasily, Trent suggested they have Bunny scout ahead and was shot down (almost literally) by the druid.

"_We_ can take a quick peek at their numbers," DJ insisted, trying to sound encouraging. "How bad could it be?"

Famous last words.

* * *

"Geoff! I'm so sorry!" Bridgette apologized, applying a glowing hand to the large bruise forming on the gunslinger's face.

"Nah, it's my fault I got between your shield and that ghoul," the blond man laughed. It was a lie of course, the cleric's swings were controlled and precise but only when it came to wielding that mace of hers. The shield was more of a hazard whenever she lost track of her movements, even more so in the darkness with only the torch for light. Judging from the guilt Geoff could see in those olive green eyes, the cleric didn't believe him.

"I should have been able to smash that thing to oblivion," Bridgette insisted forlornly. "Or turned it. It just came up so suddenly I thought it was going to..." she suddenly trailed off. Her silence intrigued Geoff.

"It was going to attack you? Well, yeah, that's why you were gonna wallop it with your shield. I should've seen it coming," the blonde assured her. She didn't look convinced. Before things could take a turn for the awkward, the shuffling of Intern'ds interrupted them.

Partly on instinct, and partly to avoid taking another shield to the face, Geoff grabbed Bridgette close with one hand while the other fired his pistol. It wasn't the first time the gunslinger had a woman's face pressed up against his bare chest and as such thought nothing of it. But still, he was extra careful to angle his torso as out of the animated corpse's reach as possible.

"You okay, babe?" he asked once he'd dispatched the latest wave. Though it was not the first time he ever used the nickname, there was a certain lilt of fondness when he directed it at the blonde, unintentionally dangerous cleric. Who was staring up at him with a look that made him forget they were in a musty old mine with Intern'ds lurking round every corner.

Her answer came when she leaned up and pressed her lips briefly against his, keeping both her arms pinned to her sides. "Thanks Geoff."

"Don't mention it," he beamed, tipping his hat off to her. The cleric's gaze wandered to something behind him and she suddenly raised her shield.

"More of them?" the pistolero groaned quietly.

"A whole _lot _more of them," she gulped.

"We run?"

"We run."

* * *

"This is all _your_ fault!" Courtney's shriek rang loudly behind Duncan, to which he cheekily replied, "Admit it, you enjoyed it!"

"I would sooner give up being a Captain in Training than admit to such a lie!"

Truthfully it really _was_ the blackguard's fault the pair now had a veritable army of undead swarming after them but Duncan found it was just so much more fun to needle Courtney about it. If it wasn't for the narrow passageway they were hurtling through at breakneck speed, there was the very real likelihood they would be overrun.

The sharp sound of a blade carving through flesh had Duncan glancing behind him in time to see Courtney's claymore cleave clean through two Intern'ds that had gotten close. Damn if such slaughter didn't put a smile on Duncan's face. He suddenly stopped running, murmuring a dark prayer beneath his breath, even as the CIT dashed past.

Courtney suddenly became aware that she'd just overtaken Duncan, which would have made the competitive side in her happy, were it not for the fact the blackguard wasn't _moving_. "Duncan! What are you doing?!" she screamed, appalled and outraged that he could make light of the situation. Then she felt the black aura emanating from Duncan's weapon, unconsciously shivering at an unnatural chill.

"Can't let _you_ have all the fun, sweetheart," he answered, the wicked glee audible in his voice. He let out a mighty roar and swiftly slammed the axe down on the nearest Intern'd, splitting the undead in half from the sheer brute force, spraying ichor and rotten meat against the mine walls. The energy from the weapon's blade fanned out from the blow, cutting through rock and varying body parts from the onrush of undead, and scattering those in the back.

He suddenly felt a strong arm grab the collar of his armor, and to his disbelief, the blackguard was being dragged along like some ragdoll.

"Shit, let go! I ain't fucking injured!" he growled, digging his grieves' heels into the ground, and swatting Courtney's arm away. He turned to face her, mouth open to give her a piece of his mind, and the words died in his throat when he saw her entire form aglow with white light.

"Then _act_ like it and keep _running_!" she snapped furiously. The light faded too quickly for Duncan to be certain he saw the worry and concern etched across the paladin's freckled features. He decided it was just a trick of the light.

* * *

All three groups managed to lose their pursuers and meet up outside, gratefully gulping deep breaths of fresh air. After the stench of decay and stale gas, it was a welcomed relief.

"I already exhausted myself and DJ turned into that ape-thing but there were too many of them for our group to handle," Gwen stated. "Trent's playing was the only thing that got us out of there."

"And Bunny helped guide us, didn't you, buddy?" DJ cooed.

"I don't have enough ammo on me to take out the ones in our route," Geoff said, looking less bothered by the situation than Bridgette.

"_Duncan_ nearly got us killed," Courtney spat, glaring daggers at the blackguard who was standing by the mine's entrance.

"Whatever, princess, all that matters to me is that you're gonna keep your end of the deal, right?" Duncan demanded.

Courtney's dark eyes narrowed angrily, "Are you kidding!? We can't let that many Intern'ds just wander free! They might head for the village, or worse, the _capital_! No, the King needs to know about it and send for people to completely rid the mine of the undead."

"What?! We did what you wanted! Aren't you honor-bound or some shit like that?"

"I kinda agree with Courtney on this one, man," DJ risked, blanching at the look of murder in Duncan's eyes.

"Me too," Geoff parried. "Those things are like, killer in the _bad_ way, you know?"

"But what about all our _stuff_?! It wasn't a cake-walk getting that much shit," the blackguard seethed.

"I have a suggestion." All eyes turned to the bard who spoke up. Trent didn't feel the least bit uneasy at having an audience, even one whose stares were hard as steel and sharp as razor. Funny, if they weren't in a group, Trent might actually feel intimidated. He cleared his throat, "Why not seal up the cave? Just long enough for Duncan's group to find somewhere else to stash their-"

"Plunder is more like it," Courtney snorted in contempt.

"Damn right it is," Duncan smirked in pride.

"Earnings," Trent diplomatically decided, "When they've found a place, we can help them transfer the stuff, re-seal the mine and _then_ let the King know about it."

"But that would mean we'll go our separate ways," Geoff frowned, suddenly not liking the turn of events. "How would we contact you?"

There was the sound of rustling robes and Gwen pulled out a roll of parchment from her sleeve. She handed it over to DJ, deeming him the most responsible of the three, "Burn this when you've found the place. It'll alert me and I can send word to Bridgette and Courtney."

"I supposed I would be honor-bound to abide by _this_ compromise," Courtney grumbled reluctantly.

"I guess it'll work for me too. As long as I keep my stuff," Duncan muttered in equal enthusiasm.

"Then it's settled!" Bridgette declared, gesturing at the mine's entrance with her mace. "Shall we?"

* * *

After the two groups finished sealing the mine, the sun was at the point of setting. Not wanting to spend another night in the woods, they headed back to the village. Despite the deal Courtney and Duncan struck with each other, the two obviously believed they _each_ got the short end of the stick and were taking it out on whatever hapless Intern'd that made the mistake of crossing their paths. By the time the group returned to the village, Bridgette couldn't detect a single undead anywhere near the village.

That bit of news didn't exactly perk Courtney up in any way and it did nothing to improve Duncan's mood. The paladin, however, was forced to set aside her anger when they saw the elder village chief rushing up to greet them.

"Oh! Trent! Courtney! Welcome back, welcome back!" Tomas waved nervously. "I take it you were able to, ah, deal with the problem as promised?"

"Right now, we've managed a temporary solution, but I assure you, you and your village have nothing to fear from the Intern'ds," Courtney promised as sweetly as she could.

"Careful princess, if you smile any harder your head'll explode," Duncan snickered, lightly shouldering past the paladin who was resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him. As the blackguard marched past the elderly chief, Tomas suddenly pointed a finger at him and declared, "You! You're that ruffian that stole one of Mrs. Simmon's piglets!"

Duncan somehow managed to feign ignorance at the accusation, "I don't know what you're talking about, old man. I've never touched any of this Mrs. Simmon's _daughters_."

"How _dare_ you!" Tomas sputtered then turned to Courtney, "You'd best school your companion in manners if he expects Charlie to let him stay in the Inn tonight!"

"We're not traveling together," the paladin dryly corrected but nevertheless shot a dirty look at Duncan's back.

"Say Tomas," Trent hastily interrupted before the chief gave Courtney a legitimate excuse to pick a fight with the blackguard. "Didn't you say you'd give us a tour of your home when we returned?"

"Oh a tour! That sounds just _lovely_!" DJ squealed, giddily clapping his hands. "Can I come?"

The village chief beamed in pride, "The more the merrier!"

"I'll pass," Geoff shook his head, not in the least bit interested. Though the disappointed look on Tomas' face had the genial gunslinger adding, "Someone's gotta keep Duncan outta trouble."

"I'll go with you, Geoff," Bridgette volunteered, "I'll probably end up knocking something over with my shield anyway."

No one in the group argued otherwise. Not that this offended the easy-going cleric as she was more than happy to accompany the pistolero. He, in turn, looked more than a little pleased at the prospect of spending more time with Bridgette.

"Call me at the first sign of trouble, Bridge," Courtney ordered, frowning when her friend barely nodded in acknowledgment. She turned to the sorcerer, "How about you, Gwen? You coming with us or are you going to join Bridgette?"

Gwen truthfully did _not_ think looking at the insides of an old man's house was even remotely fun. But seeing as how Trent was going along, the pale woman shrugged in careful nonchalance, "Why not? It's not like I have anything else to do until we leave for the next village."

The paladin, the druid, the bard, and the sorcerer followed the village chief into his home. Tomas was animatedly pointing out this knick knack and that, chattering about the item's history and how it came to his family's possession.

DJ and Trent seemed to be genuinely intrigued with the elderly man's tale while Courtney was feigning interest. Gwen was simply bored. That is, until they came upon a pedestal with a velvet pillow spread atop.

"And this," Tomas sighed, "This was where I used to keep the pride and joy of the tour. It was a very old little thing that's been in my family for generations. My father insisted it was extra special because even with minimal care it showed little to no signs of wear. But we never bring out of the house and keep it away from the sun so that could have something to do with it," he chuckled.

"Where is it now?" DJ asked while lightly stroking the rabbit asleep on his shoulder.

"The Princess Lindsay came to the village a few months ago. Naturally I gave her the tour and when she saw my family's treasure, she seemed positively entranced. Said she wanted it because of how cute it was and spoke how well it would match one of her gowns. And what the Princess wants, we're obliged to give," Tomas sighed wanly. It was clear he missed whatever it was that was once displayed in his home.

The sorcerer peered intently at the velvet cloth and ran her slim fingers over the surface. "I'm sensing some residual magic here. Tomas, what exactly did this treasure look like?"

The village chief began to pantomime how it fit the palm of his hand while he described the texture as: "Almost spongy really."

"And it's sort of ivory colored?" Gwen supplied; obsidian eyes narrowed in thought. If Tomas confirmed her suspicions, she knew what the artifact Princess Lindsay took was.

"It was a dirty sort of white, if that's what you mean?"

"I got it! I know what it is!" the sorcerer declared, "It's the Mallow of Life!"

"The Ma of the what-now?" Trent blinked.

Gwen looked uncharacteristically excited as she recalled the information from the recesses of her memory. "The Mallow of Life is a holy artifact that's supposed to protect its owner from abominations like the undead and certain minor demons. I guess having it in your home was what kept your village safe from all those Intern'ds trapped in the mi-," she paused, then quickly finished with "-iddle of nowhere," remembering their promise to keep the mine a secret.

"By Mildred, with it gone, no wonder the Intern'ds could roam freely!"

"You have to get it back for us!" Tomas declared, "Please? I-I mean, you said whatever it was you did, it was only a temporary fix, but with the heirloom back the village will be safe for good, yes?"

"Highly likely." Was Gwen's answer.

"I guess we could put our wild goose chase on hold to ask Princess Lindsay to return the artifact," Courtney mused, trying to figure out the best way to explain the turn of events to Noah. Yes, the group was tasked to track down the Princess, but they never needed to directly speak to her, and more than likely that was how the advisor would have wanted it handled. Looks like Noah was just going to have to be as quick-witted as he claimed himself to be with this new development.

"Tomas, by any chance does your village have a carrier pigeon?" the armored CIT asked.

"Yes, of course, you'd have to alert your Captain of the change after all." The village chief nodded in understanding, "I believe Clint's is available, I'll show you to him."

"That would be appreciated," Courtney answered sweetly. "Gwen, could you tell Bridgette about the change in plans?"

"Huh? Oh, sure, Court," the green-haired sorcerer said absently, her dark eyes still studying the pedestal. There was something unusual about the magic that lingered but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She doubted the village chief would know. Considering the elderly man didn't even realize the object was magical in the first place, that assumption wasn't unfounded.

With Courtney and Tomas leaving the house, ("I won't be long, but you kids are free to make yourselves comfortable.") DJ figured the tour was over. The large man waved goodbye to the couple hovering by the empty stand, "I should probably go see how Geoff is doing in keeping Duncan out of trouble. Catch you guys some other time."

"Bye DJ," Trent seemed to be the only one to acknowledge the druid's exit.

True to his word, DJ went off in search of his two travel buddies to tell them of the tour, ignoring the fact that neither gunslinger nor blackguard was interested. Geoff was rather preoccupied in chatting Bridgette up for what may be the last time before they parted ways. And Duncan just really gave no fucks about the matter.

Until DJ mentioned the part how: "Courtney's group is going to go find the Princess and ask if she would be kind enough to return the artifact."

Hearing royalty was involved in the uptight paladin's journey Duncan was suddenly _very_ keen to listen. And after asking a few questions from DJ and Bridgette, a plan began to form in Duncan's mind.

"Dude, I don't like that look on your face."

"And what look is that, Deej?"

"That's your "_we are going to do something that will likely hurt or kill us all_" look," the druid cringed.

"Nice!" Geoff grinned, always game for a new life-threatening adventure. "Whatcha got planned, Duncan?"

The blackguard motioned they speak in private at an empty table _away_ from the female cleric who was now eyeing them all in suspicion. Geoff looked torn to learn he had to excuse himself but he reluctantly did and plopped down at the new table, resting his chin in his leather gloved hands.

Duncan gave one quick but thorough scan of the room, gestured the two men lean in closer, and spoke, "Boys, how'd you two like to meet a real Princess?"

* * *

Elsewhere...

"You aren't going to try to retrieve it?"

"Why should I? I got tooooooooons of those scattered all across the realms. Course some don't work as well as the others, but it wouldn't be as much fun if they were all the same, would it?"

"So _this_ has nothing to do with _that_?"

"..."

"Don't smile like that."

"Dude, I only know one way to smile. Deal with it."


End file.
